


Brewing Disaster

by Lunar_Crystalis



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Brainwashing, Everyone is in this eventually, Gen, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Torture, Random Talon agents die, Reaper is an asshole, but just so you know, i'll be tagging as I go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-16
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-07-24 07:08:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7498869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunar_Crystalis/pseuds/Lunar_Crystalis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a mission turns for the worse, Lucio ends up in the hands of Talon. And when tossed into a witch's brew, only disaster comes for the frog.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Mission

**Author's Note:**

> So this is just the first chapter, not sure if I want to make it longer or not. Felt like a good place to end it, but it's short. Anyway, enjoy the beginning of the horrible disaster my brain is cooking up.

            When the call had first come in, everyone had thought it would just be a simple extraction mission for a person targeted by Talon. The guy had been an ex-Overwatch agent, and had hidden himself in one of the forgotten safe houses. Talon was supposed to have no idea where he was, giving them a clean and easy extraction. They had prepared for an encounter with a Talon team, just in case. Soldier:76 for his less flashy combat expertise, Genji for his quieter combat techniques, Hanzo for the same reason, and Lucio as team medic with the additional bonus of his speed boosting ability in the case of a quick getaway. Plus, they could more easily blend in, unlike some of the others who stuck out like sore thumbs.

 

Fat lot of good it did when the whole thing turned out to be an elaborate trap.

 

As soon as they had stepped foot into the ‘safe house’ the solid steel doors slammed shut behind them and a hoard of Talon grunts came pouring into the large room. According to Soldier:76 there was an emergency exit a few rooms over, through the massive amount of Talon troops. Who, while annoying, didn’t actually pose a big threat, but so many of them in an enclosed space proved difficult to handle.

It wasn’t until the group had escaped through the emergency exit that they realized that in the chaos Lucio had gotten separated from them. The three moved to go back when Lucio came skating out of the exit at top speed, Talon agents hot on his heels. A lucky shot hit one of his skates, causing him to fall and skid to a halt. Before the three could make a move a cruel laugh echoed through the air, a black cloud of a smoke-like substance crashing down next to their fallen comrade. It cleared to reveal Reaper crouching next to Lucio, his glove-covered hand grabbing a hold of the back of the DJ’s neck. As he stood he hauled the Brazilian man up with him, his clawed pointer finger pricking the skin and causing a thin stream of blood to trail downwards.

“Well, well, well, look who it is. The idiots trying to bring back Overwatch. And what’s this? You’ve already managed to lose a comrade, and he’s your medic at that.”

Reaper clicked his tongue a few times condescendingly, completely ignoring Lucio’s dazed struggling. They could see that there was a large gash on his forehead, and he probably had a concussion. Even if he didn’t, there was no way he could escape Reaper’s grip without his sonic amplifier, which was laying on the ground a few feet behind him. But there was no way his comrades could save him, not with Reaper and the insanely large amount of Talon agents. The DJ knew he was screwed, so with the last of his strength he smiled sadly, mouthed run, and kicked Reaper in the dick. The pained yell had a lot of the Talon agents turn their attention on Reaper, giving his comrades a chance to escape. It was worth getting slammed into the pavement and knocked unconscious.

 


	2. The Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the most actual torture that will be written in this fic, but if people really want it I might write it out. If you see any errors please point them out. Comments motivate me to write faster, so please leave one!

            The transport was silent. The absence of a comrade weighed heavily upon the consciousness of all three of the occupants. Lucio had been right there, and they could do nothing to save him. His last, sad little smile before he provided the distraction they needed to escape, obviously knowing they couldn’t save him.

            Hanzo might not have been close to him, but he wouldn’t have wished that fate on anyone. Capture meant torture and almost certain death. A rescue wouldn’t come, as he was sure the DJ knew. They were too few to begin with, let alone down a member. A pity.

            Genji was trying to figure out how to tell D.Va that her friend and fellow celebrity was gone. There would be no rescue mission. Even if they knew where the Talon bases were, what one he was taken to, and the base’s defenses, they were much too few to tackle such a big threat. Lucio had sealed his fate with a smile. And unlike Genji when Mercy saved him, there would be no surprise savior.

            Soldier:76 cursed in his head. He’d lost another comrade. He should have known it was a trap. Now Lucio was captured, and Talon was going to get everything he knew out of him one way or another. After they had milked him for everything he knew, they’d kill him. He was only 26, practically a kid. He’d had so much life ahead of him. Kid had a family waiting for him in Brazil, friends patiently waiting for him to return from what should have been a milk run. How was he going to break the news to them? Hell, did the kid even know what was coming?

 

* * *

 

            Reaper stormed angrily into the Talon transport. Stupid little boy had kicked him! He’d make sure that when it was time to interrogate the bastard it will be him to break the DJ. Payback will be sweet.

            “Reaper, report.”

            “Trap worked perfectly, and we caught them off guard. One of them had gotten separated, so we caught him first. But before we could grab the others the little bugger kicked me, and all your troops took their eyes off the targets, letting them escape. We still have the one though, the one with the sound based technology.”

            “So only a partial success. One is better than none, I suppose. Our informants told us about the one you caught. His name is Lucio, a famous DJ freedom fighter. Too new to have much in the way of intel though… But there are other uses for him…”

 

* * *

 

            A sharp slap jerked Lucio back into consciousness. Not yet fully coherent, he looked around the room he was in. He was strapped to a table. There was a screen on the ceiling. There was a smaller table next to him, and Reaper was in the corner opposite the door. Wait, REAPER?

            Reaper stared at Lucio, greatly amused by his struggling. The bugger was going to get what was coming to him. Hearing his noises of pain and terror would have been nice, but at least this way he won’t shout obscenities when the fun began. The specialist assigned to him was going to arrive momentarily.

            The door slid open to admit the specialist, a dainty woman with dark hair, bright eyes, and a sweet smile. In her arms was a black tablet with intricate red light details. She sat down on a stool that was hidden on the opposite side of the smaller table. Her eyes scanned his form, occasionally letting out a hum before checking something on her tablet. After a few minutes of that she pulled a stylus out of the side of her tablet and began to scribble down something.

            “It’s been a while since they hired me for a procedure. Not often that anyone needs my, ah, special skills, even in organizations such as this. But at least they got me a decent subject to work on. Only a few minutes in and I already have so many ideas for what to do. Reaper, if you would be so kind as to bring in my assistants and tools, it is time to begin.”

            Lucio had honestly never been more confused in his life. Who was this lady, and what were her ‘special skills’? What was about to begin? What did she mean by subject? Do what? All these questions muddled together in his head as his unease grew with each passing second. As if sensing his growing panic, the lady turned to look him in the eyes. Her sweet smile morphed into a sadistic grin, her bright eyes gleaming with insanity.

            “Now, now. The fun hasn’t even begun yet! I have plans for you. Talon may not have much use for you as a source of intel, but with my help you will be quite useful in a different manner. One that I personally think is much more fun.”

            The door slid open once again to admit Reaper, who was followed closely by two identical omnics, both carrying trays of tools while a third pushed a cart. Reaper, despite wearing his mask, radiated distaste at being anywhere near them. He returned to his corner, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed and small amounts of black smoke coming off of him.

            “Ah, perfect! So Orim got to choose where to start last time, and before that it was Tula, so Rolo it’s your turn. Shall we start with the drugs, or the conditioning? Or would you like to play first?”

            “Play,” said the omnic pushing the cart, completely monotone.

            The lady’s sadistic grin grew wider as she moved aside and gestured to Rolo. It (he still had no idea what pronouns the omnic used) took a moment to scan the array of tools, before reaching over and plucking one off of one of the trays. It was a simple laser scalpel. For a split second Lucio wondered what it was going to do with a laser scalpel. The question was quickly answered when the scalpel was raised above its head, before swiftly stabbed into his arm. His muffled screams, met by the omnics’ and lady’s laughter, rose in volume as the laser scalpel was dragged up his forearm.

            Reaper listened to the boy’s screaming. Such sweet screams, and it was only the beginning. He had much more coming before the specialist was done with him. He almost pitied the boy, knowing what was coming in the young man. Almost. He might have pitied him if the little shit hadn’t kicked him.


	3. The Club

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter is longer than the last two combined! Not be much, but still! I also like hearing your thoughts, so don't be afraid to leave a comment. If you spot a mistake, I'd love to know so I can fix it. Mentions drugs, so be warned.

            It took a month before Soldier:76 came forward with a lead on Talon’s new acquisition, a club quickly gaining popularity called House of Rhapsody. He suspected it may be a front for something, but there was no telling what. It was too open for there to be many Talon operatives there, so a small task force would be all that is needed, but everyone else was to be on standby. After what had happened last time, he was taking no chances.

            The chosen few going were D.Va, Tracer, and S:76 himself. The choice of D.Va was questioned, but he said that push comes to shove the backup can bring her mech, and she can blend in to a club. When questioned on how he was going to blend in, he said to just leave it up to him. Tracer’s participation went without question.

            When they arrived at the club it was just minutes before opening. There was a long line already at the door, which was guarded by a pair of bouncers. S:76 thanked whatever deity was out there that this country’s legal drinking age was 18, because trying to pass D.Va off as any older than 19 would have been a nightmare. After waiting for the club to open and the line to move forward, the team was finally in the club. After looking around for a while the team couldn’t find anything amiss. It appeared to be just a normal club, albeit one owned by a terrorist organization. Maybe the bar served drugged drinks?

 Before they could start a second sweep, the song playing faded out. A quick glance at the DJ booth revealed that the DJ that had been playing was about to switch out with a different DJ, who was wearing a glowing red visor attached to black devices covering his ears, likely a form of headphones, that had the biohazard symbol in red lights on the sides. His dreads spilled over his shoulders, red light strips interwoven in them illuminating his dark skin. He also had a thin black collar around his neck that also featured a red light biohazard symbol. Besides his head and neck, everything else that was visible covered his skin in black with red light details. Seems he had a color theme going.

            “Here’s the man you’ve all been waiting for, Rhapsody himself!”

            Rhapsody took his place, and the music underwent an abrupt change. Before the music was good but the music the new DJ was weaving was in another class all its own. It was also eerily familiar, so much so that it sent a chill down the team’s spines. It didn’t help that it felt like they were being watched. S:76 did a scan of the crowd and came face to face with Reaper. While they had been looking around, the crowd had been infiltrated by Talon operatives. They had walked into another fucking trap. Calmly he pulled out his communicator.

            “Hey Mercy, we’re going to need that backup.”

            Reaper made a show of pulling out his shotguns from under his trench coat. S:76 wanted to roll his eyes at the overdramatic bastard, but instead pulled out his concealed pistol. Not nearly as good as his normal rifle, but it would have to do. Somebody screamed, and then every civilian was rushing to get out of the club.

            “I hope you don’t plan on having a confrontation in my house,” Rhapsody said as he moved out from behind the DJ booth, “I couldn’t condone such violence. At least, _not without me._ ”

            Rhapsody leapt from his position, doing a little flip as skates popped out from what was now obviously prosthetic legs. He landed deftly and was immediately springing forward. He cackled as he came across a lady who had frozen in fear. Her mouth opened to scream, but she was swiftly silenced by the DJ holding up his arm and releasing a sonic blast in her face causing her to go flying. A loud thump sounded as she hit the far wall and crumbled into a heap, followed by Rhapsody’s cackle increasing in volume. He skated forward, stopping right at the edge of the growing pool of blood. He crouched down, hand reaching down to dip a finger in the crimson pool before licking it off. His lips twisted into a crazed grin as he stood.

            Realization hit the team like a brick to the face, before they felt rage boil up in their guts. These were _Lucio’s techniques._ They gave this crazed man prosthetic legs with skates and prosthetic arms with built in sonic amplifiers, then they had him using Lucio’s techniques, both the combat kind and the musical kind. Talon had not only taken Lucio, but they dared to make this psychotic mockery of his memory. They’d take down this Talon copy with _extreme prejudice._

            D.Va shot at Rhapsody, screaming expletives in both English and Korean. He easily dodged each shot, dancing to the music now blasting from speakers hidden on him. It was hard to tell where his prosthetics ended and his clothing began, both were black with red lights. Kind of like Genji, S:76 noted as he opened fire on Reaper, only Talon’s bastardized version. Tracer was zipping back and forth taking out as many of the Talon operatives as she could. Judging by how the previous dozen had dwindled down to a handful, she was doing quite well. The ones that were left were likely smarter than their fallen compatriots.

            Soldier:76 didn’t know how he expected the rest of the team to enter the fight, but it wasn’t Reinhardt barreling through the doors at top speed followed closely by Winston and Zarya, Mercy visible through the hole that had been the doors and some of the wall around them. Her face held a tired look of exasperation as she waved her arm to get Genji, McCree, Pharah, and Zenyatta to enter the fray. S:76 briefly questioned where Hanzo was before he heard glass break. He mentally rolled his eyes when it clicked that Hanzo had climbed up the building and broken a high window to get in. For a group of highly dangerous individuals, they sure were overly dramatic, though not as much as the Edgelord he is currently locked in combat with.

            Rhapsody, catching sight of the new additions, called out, “Time to bring down the roof!”

            The team noted that his speakers must be voiced controlled, as the volume of his music increased. His speed increased too, as well as that of any Talon operative near him. Not that he stayed near them. Instead he charged forward, weaving through the fray to get right up close to this new person who was also lit up, just like him. He dodged to the side to avoid volleys of shuriken, his dreads whipping back and forth as he moved at high speed. The light strips in his dreads left trails in his wake, reminiscent of glow sticks waving about. His psychotic smile remained wide on his face as he closed in on his target.

            Genji mentally cursed as he did his best to maintain the stream of shuriken, but he couldn’t keep this up forever. He was going to run out of shuriken soon, but he definitely didn’t want to know what a close-range sonic blast felt like. When arrows began raining down upon his opponent, providing a distraction, he took the opportunity to pull out his sword, dashing forward. He would have hit had it not been for his opponent using a nearby Talon operative as a meat shield, throwing him in the way of Genji’s attack. Rhapsody frowned as he dodged another attack. His head was beginning to hurt…

            Reaper smothered the urge to groan. This fight was not going as planned. Most of the operatives were dead, all of Overwatch had showed up, and Rhapsody needed another dose of drugs soon or he’d be useless. It was very bad for their image if one of their own was on the ground screaming in agony. Plus, Talon had put a clause in today’s contract that he was to bring back their newest toy alive and in decent health. Looks like a retreat was in order.

            “Looks like we’ll have to leave early. Rhapsody, if you would?”

            “Sure thing. Listen to my requiem!”

            It took all the members of Overwatch had to not collapse under the horrid noise originating from Rhapsody. It was only after it had stopped that they realized what the noise that came close to bursting eardrums was: screaming. The ‘requiem’ was a recording of someone screaming in agony at the top of their lungs, played at the highest volume possible. A great tool for distracting a group of enemies to allow for a quick getaway, as they could see from the absence of Reaper, Rhapsody, and the handful of operatives that had still been alive.

 

* * *

 

            Winston called a meeting a few hours after they had returned to base. No one but him knew what it was for until he began explaining how he’d managed to hack into the club’s system, and from it he had recovered a recording of Rhapsody’s ‘requiem’ so he could run a check on the voice print. When questioned why he told them it was so he could give the family of the poor soul who had done the screaming some settlement knowing that they were dead.

            “Why are we having this meeting then, you may ask. Well, it was because I felt that everyone should be present to see the results. Don’t ask me why, but I felt it was important that I run the check where everyone can see the results. Athena, run the check.”

            The screen projected above the central table blurred slightly as the check moved through various people faster than eyes could track. Everyone waited patiently as minutes ticked by until the screen lit up with the words MATCH FOUND.

            “Athena, display the results.”

            The words on the screen blinked out as they were replaced with the name and picture of the owner of the voice. For a moment, everything was silent as their brains (or processors) fought to comprehend what they were seeing. They wanted it so badly to be a trick, but it wasn’t. The smile displayed in the photo was unmistakable, as was the signature hairstyle. The name displayed next to the picture was so very, very familiar. There, on the screen, was the name LUCIO CORREIA DOS SANTOS.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rhapsody's design was partially inspired by this: http://peachdeluxe.tumblr.com/post/147038818443/give-lucio-a-cybergoth-skin-goth-lucio-blasts
> 
> I don't own it but it is fun to look at.


	4. Rhapsody is very crazy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to update. Wrote part of this chapter then got stuck on how to proceed. But here it is!

            The silence was broken by the clattering of a chair falling as D.Va hastily stood and ran from the meeting room. She could hear the others calling after her, but she blocked them out. The familiar walls of the base were blurred by the tears gathering in her eyes, threatening to cascade down her cheeks. The horrid screaming resounded in her head as she stared at the door. A laminated paper sign was taped to it, a messy scribble of a smiling cartoon frog and Lucio’s name in bubble letters on it. Her door had a matching one with a cartoon rabbit and her name.

            She walked forward slowly, to give the door time to slide open. Lucio had learned the hard way that it was slow to open, running straight into the door. He’d split his lip and spent the next hour pouting, pointedly ignoring her as she laughed. The room was exactly as he’d left it, bed unmade with the frog pajamas she’d bought him as a joke thrown on top of the thick pile of blankets. He’d complained that it rarely dipped below 15ºC (60ºF) in Brazil, so he just wasn’t used to such low temperatures. She had needed to bite her tongue to refrain from bringing up hockey.

            His recording equipment was pushed into one corner. The walls around it were littered with little notes taped up, mostly requests. His desk was covered in designs and ideas for his gear, little frog paper weights holding down various piles. His laptop sat in the middle of the chaos, a small music player sat next to it. Her memories overlapped reality, but she didn’t mind. Seeing his smiling face as he played for her the new song he’d just finished making, the way his eyes lit up, so free and **alive** , chased away the screams.

            But the moment didn’t last. Cruel laughter sounded as she lost sight of his eyes, his visor darkening and losing all transparency. Red bled into it and chased away the green. His dreads fell out of his signature style to spill out over shoulders encased in black armored cloth. Red lights wove into them, no lighter colored hair to be seen, with end caps as black as his clothes. His face twisted up into a crazed grin as Lucio was replaced with his psychotic replica, Rhapsody. She screamed as she was sent flying by a sonic blast, hitting the wall and crumpling into a pile, just like that poor woman at the club. She laid there, blood pooling beneath her. Her eyes drifted close.

            Then she woke up, eyes snapping open as she gasped. Gunfire echoed around her, occasionally accompanied by explosions. Mercy pulled the smelling salts away, capping them and slipping them back into her pouch. She’d been knocked unconscious by something, probably a piece of her exploding mecha had beamed her across the head. She got up, thanked Mercy, and called in a new mecha. She had a fight to finish, and it would feel good to take few shots at that grinning lunatic Rhapsody.

 

* * *

 

           

            Reaper bit back the groan that was threatening to spill out. He was a mercenary, infamous for his high kill count. So why the hell was he babysitting Talon’s pet psychopath? And he really meant babysitting. After what the specialist and her trio of sadistic omnics had done to make Rhapsody, their subject had been forced to mentally regress to have the subliminal messages, meant to trigger heightened aggression, influence a mind full of childish cruelty. Apparently they had conflicted too much with his adult mind's subconscious morality or some shit. Though he wasn’t technically a psychopath, the traits were caused by the subliminal messages pushing childish cruelty to an extreme.

            The regression was exceedingly irritating when coupled with the pain meds Rhapsody was always hopped up on. One of the side effects was similar to that of alcohol, loss of inhibitions. So when you combine loss of inhibitions, heightened aggression, and regression you get Rhapsody. Who just broke into a candy store to eat all the chocolate and make licorice frogs. What had he been thinking when he agreed to do this?  Why had he agreed to it? He couldn’t quite remember. His memory of the contract was hazy, just like his memories of every other contract he had taken from Talon.

            Wait, where did Rhapsody go?

 

* * *

 

 

            Rhapsody cackled as he skated along the empty streets of the city. Oh how he loved sugar. Especially if it was in the form of chocolate! Of course the chocolate had only held his attention for about 20 minutes before he had gotten bored. Now he was a bit thirsty, so it was time to raid a supermarket for a refreshment chock full of sugar. He let out a gleeful shout when he spotted one, amping up the volume and pushing himself to go as fast as possible towards it. The automatic doors barely slid open in time, though it might have been partially due to him subconsciously slowing down right before reaching the door.

            He made numerous exclamations of joy at the sheer number of things in the store as he skated around looking for the drinks. He came to an abrupt halt, not because he found the drinks, but because he’d found animal plushies. The pink rabbit near the top was immediately plucked from the bin, followed by the bright green bird. He happily played with them for a few minutes before setting them aside to dig through the bin for anything that caught his eye. The next plushy to be dragged up from the depths was a bright green frog, face frozen in an eternal smile. He held it in the air, staring at the warm brown bead eyes.

       The voice whispered to him from the plush frog, but he ignored it. He knew it was better for him to ignore it, because the voice pushed him to do things that would earn him a session with the Doctor. It told him things that he just couldn't accept. The voice ignored his thoughts as it got even louder, screaming up at him.

       He wanted it to shut up.

* * *

 

 

            Reaper found him in the store about half an hour later, still sitting next to the bin of animal plushies. He was playing with a rabbit plushy while a heavily damaged bird plushy sat in his lap. A frog plushy laid a few feet behind him, its limbs ripped off and a knife sticking out of the head. Reaper wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He was probably better off not asking.

 

* * *

 

 

            It had started off with the footage of Rhapsody raiding a candy store to eat a bunch of chocolate and make licorice frogs. Then came the footage from the supermarket. After that was some frankly bizarre footage from a gas station in the middle of freaking _Nevada_. And when Ana Amari showed up she brought stories about him doing extremely childish and slightly unhinged things, no one had believed her until she pulled out pictures of the events.

            If it wasn’t for the fact that he was a twisted Lucio-copycat that killed people, they would actually find him to be hilarious and not much of a threat. But with these humorous events came accounts of him killing helpless civilians, doing insane amounts of property damage while causing havoc, and even assassinating a few people. How the hell someone lit up like a glow stick who skates everywhere while playing music that caused the ground to shake assassinated people was beyond them, but apparently he was good at it. Good enough to tag team with Widowmaker, as he had on at least three different occasions. He had quickly become one of the biggest pain-in-the-asses the new Overwatch had, which was saying something as they had to deal with some truly tortuous things. Like paperwork, and dealing with  _politicians._

            They still hadn’t figured out how he managed to spray paint a dick on Reinhardt’s hammer. It was slightly disconcerting.


	5. D.Va needs a therapist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since I updated, and I apologize for that. I've been neglecting my Overwatch fanfics to... play Overwatch. Ah, the irony. I've gone through multiple shifts in what character I main, which started as Lucio. Then it went to Ana, now it's D.Va. Strange that I started as a healer and am now a tank. I wouldn't be surprised if someone who reads this had played with me before. My tag is Crystalis.

            Soldier:76 scowled behind his mask as he entered the briefing room to find that McCree was missing. Mercy had her caduceus staff laying on the table while she engaged in a discussion with Winston, presumably about said staff. Genji and Zenyatta sat at one end of the table- well, Genji sat, Zenyatta hovered or something. Ana Amari sat quietly in her seat, waiting for the meeting to start. Hanzo was inspecting his arrows, as Zarya did the same for her particle cannon. Pharah was sitting quietly next to Mercy, while Reinhardt and Tracer sat opposite to them. D.Va sat opposite to where McCree _should_ be sitting, surprisingly not playing one of her games. Instead she had her pistol taken apart and was meticulously cleaning each individual piece.

            “Where the hell is McCree?”

            D.Va glared up at him, her lips pulling up into a sneer as she replied, “Probably getting drunk again. Wait, that would imply he’s ever not drunk off his ass. Silly me, he’s likely passed out in his room.”

            He wished he could be surprised at how much venom was in her voice. He really did. But after listening to some of her interactions over the last few weeks, this was mild in comparison. They were glad that she hated Talon more than she evidently hated them now. It wasn’t their fault that Lucio was gone, she knew that, but it didn’t stop her resentment. At least she wasn’t blaming herself. However, they should hire a grief counselor. Her increasing verbal hostilities and erratic behavior needed to be dealt with.

            “We don’t time for this. We’ll continue on without him. Athena, display mission briefing.”

            A holographic screen appeared along the surface of the table, displaying a basic map. On one end was a circle helpfully labeled objective. On the other was a hologram of a semi-truck, labeled payload. Various smaller circles were scattered around, each labeled with a different name.

            “To fund the hiring of some new help, we’ll be undertaking a mission to escort a shipment. After escorting it we will be protecting the negotiations between the owner of the shipment and a prospective buyer. We’ve been guaranteed 30% of the money, no less than a million.”

            “A million? What _exactly_ is in,” McCree stalked forward into the room, having arrived as Soldier: 76 began the briefing, to point at the semi-truck hologram, “that shipment?”

            “I don’t know. I’m guessing it is some form of refined ore, as our employer runs a rather large mining operation on the Sysnath islands, near Antarctica. What I do know for certain is that whatever it is we’re escorting, Talon wants it. And we won’t let them have it.”

 

* * *

 

 

            The mission was going smoothly. So far all they had had to take care of was two squads of generic Talon goons. They had heard rumors about a pair of highly dangerous men being in the area, but lucked out when all they did was raid an arcade for a bunch of plushies. Since that was little more than petty crime, they left it to local police to deal with it.

            With the shipment successfully delivered to the objective, everyone moved to their assigned defensive positions around the walled courtyard of the building. For a while, all was silent. The lack of people and enemies didn’t put them at ease, instead it put them on edge. This island may not be very big, but there _still_ should be people around. It was midday after all.

            Three minutes later the vibrations start. The ground vibrated in tune to a beat no one knows, and yet they _know_. Or at least, they suspect. The vibrations got stronger, growing closer and closer until they inexplicably stopped. In hindsight, they would call it the calm before the storm. Presently their eyes swept back and forth, searching for the enemy they knew was there. Where would he come from? From the front, the left, or the right?

            They stood there, weapons at the ready and eyes searching, growing increasingly agitated. Over a dozen set of eyes competed to be the first to spot the unseen enemy. Idly a thought occurred to some of them, _‘So THIS is why he’s good at assassinations.”_ In the end, Mercy was the first to spot him. He was perched upon a tall decorative pillar, lips drawn wide in a cheshire grin, showing his neat set of pearly whites with slightly longer than average canines. Something about his grin was familiar, but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it.

            The moment, which really was only a couple of milliseconds, was broken by Rhapsody with one large, concentrated sonic blast. The force of the attack sent Mercy sailing through the air, a startled yell resounding. She manages to activate her wings to slow her descent, keeping her from going splat against the wall of a building or the ground. Having successfully avoided death, she angled herself towards her nearest comrade and sped forward.

            Rhapsody loudly cackled, scarlet lights coming back on as he launches himself backwards, pulling off a triple backflip. He lands gracefully on his feet, transitioning easily to skating at full speed through the archway at the front of the courtyard. He only had to swerve the slightest bit to avoid the rounds originating from Soldier:76’s rifle before he vanished past the stone archway. Tracer moved to chase him, stopping when S:76 stuck his arm out to block her path and shook his head. It could easily be a trap, and Rhapsody would have backup out there. He didn’t do anything alone, there was always at least a partner.

            When Talon agents came into view, flooding in through the archway while some scaled the walls, the Overwatch team was annoyed, but unsurprised. Fighting the goons all the time was getting tedious. Perhaps they should recruit someone who specialized in turrets, so they could have the generic schmucks be dealt with using minimal involvement. It would make it a hell of a lot easier to deal with the cackling maniac Rhapsody and overdramatic, self-christened ‘Reaper.’ Maybe something to slow down the skating bastard is also in order.

            In the mass of gunfire and brawling in the case of Reinhardt, they missed Rhapsody reentering the courtyard. It didn’t help that he stayed back, skating around the walled perimeter waiting for an opportunity to present itself. He saw it with McCree, who was off to the side of the battle in a close quarters firefight, back to the yet unseen Rhapsody. It was almost laughably easy to move into position behind him, preparing a sonic blast to let him try his hand at flying. He hadn’t counted on McCree combat rolling out of the way of a punch, and unintentionally out of the way of the sonic blast. Instead it hit the grunt that had been attempting to punch him, sending him on a one-way trip to meet the angels. Or would it be demons?

            The poor hapless grunt went soaring through the air, screaming the entire way. At least until his back met the flag pole, pointy end first. Rhapsody frowned in annoyance as he made a quick retreat to the edge of the battle. He was going to get chewed out for killing another grunt, he just knew it. It wasn’t his fault though! Well, this time at least. In all fairness, the other twelve had had it coming. You don’t taunt the dangerous crazy guy and expect to live.

            A whistling noise pierced through the air milliseconds before an arrow embedded itself in one of his prosthetic legs. He wrenched it out, dully thinking that he was lucky that his limbs didn’t have pain sensors. It was annoying however, as being hit meant that his left leg will only be running at half capacity. Which meant that he couldn’t go as fast as he usually did. Bad news for someone whose only armor was their metal limbs and speed.

            His lips twitched downwards in a frown as he retreated to the edge of the battle once more. Where were his partners? Reaper was usually right in the middle of any battle, but he hadn’t shown up yet. Widowmaker could be anywhere, but he had yet to hear the familiar sound of her rifle firing into the fray. The enemy… archer… would never have gotten that lucky shot on him if she was providing cover fire for him. This engagement was going badly, and unless his partners get their asses in gear this mission was going to fail. Failure meant pain and another round with the Doctor, which he most certainly did NOT want.

            A pink flash was all the warning he got before approximately 900lbs of mech smashed into his side and carried him forward, his right arm pinned between his side and the mech’s cockpit glass. It stopped only a second later, but it was still enough to send him flying sideways into the front wall of the courtyard. His left arm was flung out to try to prevent his delicate in comparison flesh from hitting at full force, red lights shattering, metal crumpling, and cords ripping apart as it hit the wall first. It did little to slow him down, but it was still enough that his skull wasn’t broken as the rest of him hit the wall, knocking him unconscious instead.

            D.Va thought the sight of Rhapsody crumpled on the ground would make her feel satisfied. It didn’t. It only made her feel even emptier. Oh well, at least if she finished him off they wouldn’t have to worry about him killing more civilians. Lucio wouldn’t have wanted this, but he’s dead because of people like Rhasody. It’s only fitting Rhapsody and all the other people connected to Lucio’s death were killed for their crimes.

            D.Va trained her mech’s guns on Rhapsody’s crumpled form, ready to end him, when black smoke erupted around him. Two clawed gauntlets reached out to take a hold of the man, hauling him close, before the black smoke thickened and blocked the view. Not even a second later the smoke faded, leaving D.Va staring at the empty space in front of her. She let out a strangled scream of rage, fire in her eyes as she cursed Reaper for what he’d done. She had been _so close. So god damned **close.**_ Now Rhapsody was gone, off to recuperate and heal rather than have judgement passed on him.

            In her rage she swung her mech around and went ballistic on the last few remaining enemy grunts, making short work of them. The rest of Overwatch stood awkwardly off to the side, weary of approaching her until her rage had dwindled. She paid them no mind. Reaper would _pay._ And once he did, she would end Rhapsody. She would keep on going until every last Talon operative was gone. Only then would she be satisfied that Lucio was avenged.

            About 10,000 miles away, a distress signal continued to feebly broadcast, one final survivor still secure in a cryochamber.


End file.
